Crohn's disease linked to protein

[Ruth White]

Crohn's disease and other chronic intestinal disorders are linked to low levels of a protein that helps bind the stomach lining, Italian scientists say.

The findings of a research team at the Humanitas Institute in Milan are to be published in the journal Gastroenterology, the Italian news agency Ansa reported.

The scientists say that the stomach lining helps keep out bacteria that cause Crohn's, an inflammation that can involve any part of the digestive tract from the mouth to the anus. They found that patients with Crohn's and similar diseases have low levels of a protein known as JAM-A in their stomach linings.

''This lack permits the passage of toxic substances and bacteria that get into the mucous layers and increase inflammation,'' said Silvio Danese said, head of the research team.

About 4 million people worldwide are believed to suffer from chronic intestinal diseases.

 

[Mazen]

Hi Ruth. Do you have a link to this study? also do they mention how they can increase the level of this protein in the body?

 

[Kev]

Eat more bread N jam, eh.. OK, a thousands whips with an endoscope for that one. will that be published in the Italian Journal of Gastroenterology, or will it appear at some point in the American one (yeah, like they'd clarify that in a post someplace).. Sorry ruth for asking inane questions. Wonder if they did mention if there is any practical, feasible way to increase levels of protein JAM-A? Has anyone heard of this protein in common food items?

 

[katiesue1506]

FOOOUUUUUND it... I think

http://www.jem.org/cgi/content/abstract/204/13/3067

 

[BWS1982]

I wonder if this is an SOL situation, like if once the bacteria has "breached" the defense of the lining in the stomach, it's too late, and it wouldn't matter if you could rebuild the lining, as the bacteria have broken through and gotten a foothold in the intestines. I wonder....

 

[Kev]

You know, I had the same initial thought about being exposed to MAP in order to get IBD originally. Like, once you got it, you got it, right? But then I thunk.... "well, if I caught the flu once, would I necessarily go out looking for it again? Or would you try to avoid subsequent exposure?" Well, its' a pretty lame analogy... since IBD is incurable. But without exploring the flaws toooo deeply... figure it may be (in the case of MAP) wiser to avoid subsequent go rounds with the beastie. But this JAM-A thingy... we are talking molecular... and since I didn't receive this months copy of Molecular Monthly.. I'm not sure if there is any way to change the molecules we are dealt. Like, is JAM-A a single entity, or fused into a very complex chain? it's not like I can say it's bedtime, and slip into a brand new pair of JAM-A's, right? Wrong? I guess the good thing to take away from this IS that, despite what we may think/feel at times; someone out there IS working on this... I wonder if we offered to pay them overtime???

 

[saidinstouch]

Hmm I'm conflicted here. My school has access to this journal and I want to host the pdf for others to read freely, but at the same time I don't want to risk the trouble it could cause since it won't be posted in a password protected section of the forum or some such .

How about if you want to read the article, post here and I can probably email the pdf file to you for your viewing pleasure. That way I can feel good giving you the information without having to look over my shoulder. So leave a message here and I'll PM you to get your email address since I am REALLY bad about checking PMs on forums and might miss it if I'm not expecting it.

 

[D Bergy]

I will take a copy. It sounds interesting. Send it to [email protected]

Thank you.

Dan

 

[saidinstouch]

Hehe posting your email here works too, just didn't know how comfortable people would be doing that. Sending it right now. Let me know if you can read the pdf since I had to sign in through a proxy server on campus to dl it, it is possible the pdf requires credentials which my computer hasn't released. I doubt this is the case though so you should be free to open it up without a problem.

Edit: my name is Andrew Wiser so you'll know who it is from when it arrives.

 

[saidinstouch]

I haven't read this yet, but I'll get around to it something tonight or this weekend and see what I think of the experiments performed and the logic behind it. Been reading articles on cancer for my cancer cell biology class lately so this will be a nice change of pace.

 

[Kev]

You are Andrew Wiser? Where/how did I form the opinion that saidinstouch was female???? Relax, that's a self directed question.. think I formed it solely from the nickname... I sent you my e-mail addy via PM... do you honestly think I'd trust the crowd that hangs out here? some of them are old N crazy

I know, I know... woulda made a great nickname for yours truly... Sheesh!

 

[saidinstouch]

Not sure Kev, but I assure you I am male . I sent the article to you, hope you enjoy.

 

[D Bergy]

It wouldn't open for me. Any one else have any luck?

Dan

 

[saidinstouch]

Dan check your email, I reprinted the pdf I downloaded as a new pdf using a printer driver since I have to submit a lot of homework as pdfs. I figure this should work similar to burning a cd and then ripping the songs to remove a drm. Let me know how it works so I can resend it to Kev if it worked for you.

 

[Jeff D.]

Thanks for sending it to me. It worked fine. I'm trying to comprehend everything in it which may take me a few days especially because my dad is taking my computer for the next few days.

I have found it very interesting and very plausible. I think more further studies need to be done though. Also, did your school do this and did you have any part in the testing.

 

[saidinstouch]

At least it was an easy fix . I'm gonna get around to reading it soon myself.

 

[saidinstouch]

So I read the paper and while it is very interesting, I don't necessarily see them proving the connection to JAM-A and IBD. They state JAM-A -/- mice are more susceptible DSS induced colitis, but also mention that the damage is less severe due to increased cell division. It is interesting that they have found a protein responsible for keeping the gut from being leaky which we all know does have a connection to our disease. I'm just saying it would be a stretch to say this protein is linked to our disease any more than saying a specific bacteria or diet are the cause of our disease. The connection is possibly there, but not necessarily proven beyond annecdotal evidence.

It is a good start in the right direction of finding out what causes a leaky gut I would say and with some more research it could definitely lead to a better understanding of how this protein could in fact be a cause or involved in the development of crohns. The next test they need to do is to find the homologous protein in humans (if they don't already know it) and do genetic analysis of all types of patients with IBD(crohns and colitis) as well as IBS. It would also require getting a large sample of men and women from a number of races and taking screens of entire families to see if being JAM-A -/- was the deciding factor in who has crohns or not. It is a fairly simple, but time consuming and expensive process to get the results we desire in humans. However, there is precedent for this kind of screening as a similar process was used to determine the genes for HNPCC(Human Non-Polyposis Colon Cancer).

I should probably reread this paper to pickup some of the finer details, but overall the research process seemed sound and they did a nice job explaining a lot of the details in fairly simple terms.

 

[Jeff D.]

Yeah that's kind of what I got as well. I re-read it and the second time I read it after I researched what everything was I realized that it showed some help for leaky gut and that's a step in the right direction but not for Crohn's or others. I think like you said that they need to do a sample wit humans on a large scale and see what's going on.

Personally from my own studies is that there are so many different genes, bacteria, and other things that attribute to Crohn's, Ulcerative Colititis, and many others. I think it would be hard to come down on one protein but that protein could lead us to yet another protein or a way a protein is created and radicalized(I think I made that word up) that maybe one day we will figure it out.

 

[D Bergy]

I could not get it to work. It must be the version 7 or my computer. I will have to find ver 8 and try it.

Dan

 

[Ezio]

Silvio Danese

he is my doctor!

 

[CrohnsHobo]

Hmm I'm conflicted here. My school has access to this journal and I want to host the pdf for others to read freely, but at the same time I don't want to risk the trouble it could cause since it won't be posted in a password protected section of the forum or some such .

How about if you want to read the article, post here and I can probably email the pdf file to you for your viewing pleasure. That way I can feel good giving you the information without having to look over my shoulder. So leave a message here and I'll PM you to get your email address since I am REALLY bad about checking PMs on forums and might miss it if I'm not expecting it.

I work for the largest scientific publisher in the world and we generally don't like it when people post our content for free on their websites. :tongue:

Nice decision.